It’s 2026 - Something Worth Sitting With Today

I wrote this as an email, but it felt important to record it out loud. If you have 3 minutes, I’d love for you to watch the short message below. If reading is more your pace today, the full message is below as well.

I’ve been sitting with a thought lately, and it felt worth passing along.

You don’t need to be anywhere other than where you are.

It took me some time to understand that.

As 2026 begins and we look toward what’s ahead, I’ve been reflecting on the moments that actually stayed with me within the past year. Not the busy ones or the polished ones, but the shared moments. The quieter days. The conversations in the field. The times photography helped us reconnect, not just collect images.

This past year, we’ve had the chance to spend time with a lot of people, roughly fifty workshops, and I also turned fifty myself. In a strange way, those two things felt connected. Seeing so many different journeys up close, and reaching a milestone of my own, gave me a clearer perspective on what really matters.

When I first started Follow Me North, I thought my role was simply to help people feel more confident with their cameras and editing. Over time, I’ve realized it goes much deeper than that. Photography just happens to be the way this shows up for me, but the lesson goes far beyond a camera. A few years ago, Susan and I made a conscious shift in how we live and how we teach. We chose connection first. Smaller groups. Real conversations. More space to breathe. Less comparison. That decision didn’t just change our work, it changed how present we could be, and we’ve watched that same shift happen for so many of you.

It slows us down. It reminds us to trust what we see, and to let go of the need to measure our journey against anyone else’s. Comparing against anyone else’s journey just won’t feel right. In fact, it’ll most likely feel like you’re way behind.

I wanted to send this as a gentle reminder.

Wherever you are right now is okay.

Your photography doesn’t need to look a certain way to be meaningful. Your progress doesn’t need to be fast to be real and authentic. And you don’t need to have clarity on everything to be moving forward. There’s always someone in life that wants to be exactly where you are right now.

If you’re feeling pulled toward more calm, more intention, or more confidence in the way you see, create, or simply move through the world, trust that feeling. Your path doesn’t need to be rushed or perfect. It just needs to be yours. Authentic comes to mind. In a world of Ai we might find that “authentic” is starting to lose that feeling, however, how you choose to show up for yourself, and for others is the most authentic. Maybe that’s why I chose to record this message as well.

Thank you for being part of this community. Whether we’ve worked together once, many times, or you’re simply following along quietly, you’re already part of the story we’re building.

Our door is always open.

With gratitude,

- Jesse & Susan

P.S. If we cross paths in the field this year, I’ll be grateful for that too.